Pacifica Journal A bi-annual newsletter published by the in Hawai'i No. 43 Vol.1 2013

The Asian Waldorf Teachers Conference 2013 in Seoul welcome prepared contributions, with which you not only Nana Goebel and Eun Hwa Lee bring the color of your own culture but hopefully also an example of the work you do within your Waldorf . Dear Colleagues of the Waldorf Steiner and The conference will be held in English. Those who , need a translation from the English, please, bring your own As planned during the Asian Waldorf Teacher Confer- translator. ence 2011 in India, we will continue our work together as A detailed program can be found at: colleagues of Waldorf institutions throughout Asia. The http://www.awtc2013.org. Asian Waldorf Teachers Conference 2013 will take place in We look forward to building an Asian Waldorf kindergar- a conference center outside of Seoul, Korea. ten and school movement through such a working together. The dates are April 28, 2013, 9 PM until May 4, 2013, 8:30 PM. We suggest arrival on the 27th of May and departure on the 5th of May. The closest international airport is Seoul – Incheon. The conference will work under the title: Developing Social Healing Out of . Christof Wiechert will give the lecture cycle on Study of Man. After the lectures in the morning, we will work in study groups on different topics, pre- paring either for or grade school classes, or for spe- cific subjects in the . The afternoon workshops deal with more artistic, movement or rhythmical subjects. They will be followed either by topics to be presented or discussed in plenary, or by reports or other urgent issues. In the evening we will have presentations by pupils of the Korean Free Waldorf schools as well as by ourselves. We warmly Traditional Korean music is performed for visitors on the grounds of one of the Royal Gardens in Seoul. Anthroposophical Society in Hawai'i, 2514 Alaula Way, Honolulu, Hawai'i Email: [email protected], www.anthroposophyhawaii.org Waldorf High School in China: ture to explore a new part of the world. With an open heart and mind, I set out to help introduce Waldorf high school Enabling Everyone to Develop Morally in China. Allegra Allesandri, PhD, Fair Oaks, California, USA “Our educational policy must enable everyone who receives [First published on Waldorf Today, October 8, 2012] an education to develop morally, intellectually and physically How can an education for the future, one that strives to and become a worker with both socialist consciousness and educate free human beings, exist in a Communist nation, one culture.” From Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung infamous for human rights violations and following the party China is known for the drill and kill education. And yet as a line? This question was foremost in my mind when I accepted culture, China values the three–fold human being, as evidenced an invitation to introduce Waldorf high school education in by Mao’s dictum. His brilliance was to harness Chinese culture Chengdu, China. What would I be able to say? Would some- and turn it to the service of Communist rule. At an early age, one be following me or listening in? What if I accidentally students are shuffled into a rigorous -bound test- made an off-color joke about Mao or Hu? centered education or left behind in vocational training. I found The reality was that I had no fear, only a feeling of hope that the Chinese adult students we met had a rich background and excitement as I prepared for my trip to Chengdu with in moral, intellectual and physical education. They had been my good friend and colleague, movement instructor, Valerie very unhappy and dissatisfied with their adolescent years and Baadh. If all else failed, I knew Valerie and I would have a great high school, but they did not come out of it poorly educated. time supporting each other, shopping, eating and sharing our And yet, Chinese students applying to American are knowledge and experiences of a combined 42 years develop- often “baffled by the emphasis on extra-curricular activities ing high school and teaching high school students. and may have never written a personal essay” (NYT 11-3-11), As a Waldorf high school graduate, high school founder, a clear indication that these activities are not a focus in Chinese instructor and principal, I approached this trip as I do most high schools. everything in my life: with a feeling of wonder, an urge to Europe has a similar model of siphoning off students as share the truth of Waldorf education, and a sense of adven- early as fourth grade to vocational training, and steering the

Festival celebration at Chengdu Waldorf School. 2 best and brightest into university preparation. As a frequent course for millennia. Despite drill and kill education, I met visitor to , my observation and anecdotal research tell groups of educators capable of the best kind of teaching I can me that in Germany, this dichotomy doesn’t hold the stigma imagine. Our adult students were artistic, creative, dramatic, that it does in China. Germans who are vocationally trained excellent storytellers. They knew instinctively how to present or university bound enjoy a strong middle class lifestyle. artistic lessons. They were eager students both of the aca- China is different. Academic competition is high. The demic material and the exciting and active physical challenges discrepancy between rich and poor is vast, both economically of Spatial Dynamics. and educationally. The pressure of social status, income level In contrast, the teachers I work with and train in the U.S. and prestige is powerful. Children from families with resources need better arts education. They need to know more about take classes all day and have extra classes in the evening and their subjects. And they need to be taught systematically how weekends. And yet, according to the New York Times, 40,000 to teach artistically, creatively and dramatically. The Chinese Chinese students arrive in the every year to attend students in our program knew all this instinctively. colleges and , hoping for a better education and an The prospect of a successful Waldorf high school for advantage in business when Chengdu is real. China is they return home to China providing Waldorf educa- with an American degree tion in nearly 200 kinder- (NYT 11-3-11). The West- gartens and 25 elemen- ern allure is surely one of tary schools throughout the reasons Waldorf educa- the country (Huang 2012 tion is gaining popularity p. 6). The rich culture and and success in China. deep respect for the arts In November, we ar- create an environment ripe rived at a campus looking for successful Waldorf very much like any Waldorf education. However, the school I have seen. I found real question is: how will a sanctuary from the con- Waldorf students meet crete, high-rise, hustle and the demands of Chinese bustle of China’s third larg- university admissions and est city. The Chengdu Wal- the economics of the job dorf School is an oasis of market? This is an age- calm and tranquility. The A portrait of former Chairman Mao Tse-Tung punctuates the entrance way old Waldorf high school school surrounds a small to Beijing's Forbidden City. question. lake on which students learn to row. As in any Waldorf school The plan in Chengdu is tentatively to prepare the current worldwide, small children arrive on foot, holding hands with fifth and sixth grades to open a high school in 2014. The a parent or grandparent, skipping, singing, dressed warmly in western consultants suggest that the school prepare to house hand knit woolens. We felt at home in a real Waldorf school. boarding students from around China. Currently, Chengdu “Our purpose is to ensure that literature and art fit well into is the only school in China with graduating eighth graders. In the whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that 2012, Chengdu Waldorf School celebrates its second graduat- they operate as a powerful weapon for uniting and educating ing eighth grade class. (The other school growing to the eighth the people and for attacking and destroying the enemy, and grade is Guangzhou on the mainland near Hong Kong, which that they help the people fight the enemy with one heart and currently has a fifth grade.) one mind.” From Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung In January, Chengdu Waldorf School earned its license to What we learned in our two-week Introduction to Waldorf operate from the Chinese Department of Education which High School and Training is that our colleagues in China are took years of “pushing the government to except alternative eager for the kind of education that we find around the world education in China” (Huang 2012 p.1). Until the license, in Waldorf schools both public and private across the globe. the Chengdu Waldorf School—as many other Chinese Wal- It is the nature of the human being to strive for personal dorf schools do—operated in a “yellow light” zone. They freedom, personal expression through art, colleagueship and are neither approved with a “green light,” nor are they shut community. It is our deepest human desire to save our planet down with a “red light” (Huang 2012). Chengdu enjoys the and treat our Mother Earth with respect and to redeem our cur- patronage of a Chinese educational minister close to the rent state of the world. These are truths well now throughout Prime Minister. While vastly different than Chinese educa- the centuries in China. tion, the government seems to know that Waldorf education I found that China is a place ripe for reform. This is a has the potential to succeed. Without embracing the methods country that has known revolution, reform, and political dis- wholesale, the government continues to watch and assess. As

3 Waldorf teacher training work has been ongoing at the Chengdu Waldorf School for the past decade. A high school training is now underway with help from many foreign teachers. Here is a teacher training group presenting a song. a 10,000+year-old culture, the Chinese understand how to Students in the Waldorf introductory course brought in adapt, endure and evolve. state textbooks, not the ten-pound hardback textbook of our In the meantime, the Waldorf schools operate like private California students, but paperback, workbook-style texts. They schools. Parents pay tuition as they do in private schools in the look like a math or test prep workbook. Students said that the United States. Families have to make difficult choices around Chinese way is for the teacher to read from the book and the sixth and eighth grade about how to best prepare their children students to follow, memorize minutia, and learn for the test for high school and readiness. The current eighth grade (notes of conversations from introductory course 11-2011). experienced attrition after the Chinese New Year (the month of As this high school student spoke, I was struck by his February) when families decided to send their eighth graders to cosmopolitan nature, his maturity and his eloquence. He was a government school so they would have the eighth and ninth frank and funny in front of a group of adults. He reminded grade years to prepare for the high school entrance exam. Other me of so many of my Waldorf high school students over families make the switch earlier. Still other families arrange to the years—seeking meaning, yearning for truth, in search of send their ninth grader to the West—to Germany, Australia, beauty—in some ways, so much wiser than the system he and America, Canada, where there are Waldorf schools and faces. And his remarks reminded me of the voices from recent families ready and willing to make room for Chinese students documentaries like Race to Nowhere, and the parenting book, to have the Waldorf high school experience. Tiger Mom by May Chua. Education is meaningless when it The main difference between the Chinese and American is only about a test score, the number of AP exams, the SAT schools is in expectation. One afternoon in Chengdu during score, and the prestige of the college and universities one is our High School Introductory Course, we invited a wonder- accepted to. Hearing this young man speak, I had the distinct ful young man who had just finished his end of high school impression that for the Chinese, the high school experience exams for college. He told the group that he had spent three of college preparedness is similar to the same preparation our years studying for tests that should only have taken six months high school students experience in the most rigorous high to prepare. The only meaning he found in high school was schools on the most competitive college or university track. the literary journal he edited. In that club, students found the In our American democracy—and especially in California artistic outlet to express themselves. Yet they were in school with its Educational Master Plan—high school students have eight hours a day studying for tests. a vast array of vocational schools, community colleges, state 4 Recently completed buildings at Chengdu Waldorf School in China. unique to China, but it is especially acute these days” (Osnos, and private college and universities. We have choice. A high The New Yorker 2-17-11). Mao admonished his comrades school drop out can attend a 2-year , work “to be insatiable in learning.” As a teacher of Chinese adults, his/her way to UC Berkeley or Stanford and come out with a I felt my students’ insatiability for learning. universally respected diploma. Our educational and economic China needs innovation, it needs original designers, it needs systems support entrepreneurship and innovation. young people who can think freely and who do not wait for The Chinese educational system is not so flexible. Our the authority. The government and the people know this. No Child Left Behind Policy pales in comparison to Chinese Chinese Waldorf high school graduates represent the future educational standards. There is one path to academic success, of China. China needs students who are open-minded, free- one path to the best university, one road to future success. thinking, willing to challenge authority. This means they will “Complacency is the enemy of study. We cannot really learn become the thinkers and designers and innovators. Waldorf anything until we rid ourselves of complacency. Our attitude schools were intentionally established in order to affect social towards ourselves should be “to be insatiable in learning” and change—China is seeking inspiration for positive meaningful towards others “to be tireless in teaching.” From Quotations change in order to move the country into the 21st Century. from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung I asked Li Zewu, the principal of the Chengdu Waldorf Much has been made of the Tiger Mom pressure and in- School how these open-minded Waldorf students will fit into tensive rigor of Chinese education and parenting. Active and their society, a society that, from the outside, seems so con- aggressive study towards academic success is a national pastime. trolled by the government. Zewu told me: “They will become But there is another element of learning at play for the Chinese. president!” As Evan Osnos suggests, there is perhaps another “ingredient References: in the national motivation that may not spring as much from Bartlett, Tom and Karin Fischer (2011) “The China Co- boot-camp parenting as it does from a pervasive, deeply felt nundrum,” The New York Times. November 3, 2011. yearning for knowledge. In some cases it is knowledge to try Huang Harry , Huang Li, and Li Zewu (2012) “The Long to get into abroad; in others, it is simply to March to Waldorf School License” email received 1-15-12. get from the factory floor into a better gig. None of this is Osnos, Eric (2011). “China’s Education Binge.” The New Yorker 2-17-11. 5 中国古代辰耕文明中的“道” + 西方先進有机辰�的“木” 有机衣�与生恣文明研討交流会暨第二期生物功力衣�培圳及首次朴門永接投汁基咄課程

Biodynamic & organic training course 2013 年 3 月 24 日-4 月 2 日北京 Beijing 天所周知，工�革命造成了生戶力的空前解放和友展，創造了巨大的物民財富，同肘辱致了 F 重的不境危机和生杏惡化，使友展斐均不可持鎮。十八大 根告将生杏文明建波列入重要放題，把生杏文明建波放在突出地位，提出要着力推進錄色友展、循不友展、低碳友展，形成哲釣資源和保妒不境的空間格 局 、戶�箔相、生戶方式、生活方式，努力建波美關中国，其現中半民族永鎮友展。

有机辰�是由一些科学家、哲学家均了保妒我們賴以生存的土壤，生戶健康的作物和食品的背景下提出来的，在世界經防了“石油辰�”帶来的能源、不境 和食品安全危机之后得以大力提倡和友展并超越現代辰�思想的一种辰�生戶模式。有机辰�作均一种不境友好、資源哲釣型的生戶方式，不仗均人类提供 了 健康、安全的食物，而且逐改善了辰�生戶不境，有利于辰�的可持鎮友展和人类的生杏文明建波。中国五千年来是以辰�立国。辰�在五行中属土，五 行中 土均生养万物。而民以食均天，飲食是我們每一个民族都关注的民生問題。是故，在中国推進生杏文明建波血法 大力推劫有机辰�的友展。

生物功力衣� —— Biod y namic Agriculture，又渾均"活力有机辰�"或"自然活力辰耕"，是魯道夫•斯坦納在 1924 年均治斤和保妒土地提供的一荊良 方，它被視均有机辰�中最科学、最系統的辰�耕种方法。生物劫力辰�枷会的德米特（Demeter）杯准被公人均国隊有机辰�的最高杯准，国隊有机辰� 這劫美盟（ IFOAM）的基本杯准中，其中 67%的杯准是引自德米特杯准。

和其它有机辰�体系一祥，生物劫力辰�同祥通迂堆肥、液肥、錄肥、幸作、多祥化种植及自然的病虫害防治方法来蕾造一个平衡和諧的生杏，不同于 其它有机辰�体系的独特之赴在于：生物劫力辰�将有机辰場視均 一个有机的整体，特别强周种养箔合，自我循不，并通迂一些由天然材料制成的配方均土 地 和作物提供順勢治斤，周哲阴阳平衡，理順五气，以增强土地和作物的活力；此外，生物劫力辰�逐系統地研究了太阳、月亮、行星等天体的這行規律及 不同 星座河劫植物的影响，并制定出了一套完整的耕种日防。依照耕种日防箔合其隊情况安排辰事，順血大自然的哲律，可取得极佳的收成。 如今，全球 46 个国家都有从事法辰法的辰場。F 格遵照生物劫力辰�規程生戶的食物可申清荻得德米特(Demeter)有机人泣。德米特戶品品民如雷貫 耳，誉享全球。

6 Kindergarten Training in the lap of and it became a challenge for Sarita, a master teacher, to win participants over. The lectures, activities, verses, songs, play, Himalayas etc. eventually convinced the participants about the basic Ritman Gurung, Kathmandu, concepts of Waldorf education as it applies to kindergarten. Worldganic Foundation is the organization founded on The lectures Waldorf education, the four-fold human being, anthroposophic principle, an organization focusing its energies the twelve senses, importance of play, rhythm, creative disci- on education, agriculture and health. The Foundation started a pline, essential phases of , the importance biodynamic farming initiative in Pokhara, Nepal, and organized of fairy tales, etc. helped to show the deeper values Waldorf a biodynamic seminar with Hans and Ineke Mulder from New education. The activities such as crayon drawing, wet on wet Zealand during the Dusshera holidays in 2012. Now, a Waldorf painting, finger knitting, braiding, and so on, brought a vital inspired kindergarten is under construction and we will start and convincing energy to the training. classes in April 2013. We also plan to have a center for Waldorf There were altogether 32 participants in the training. Some teacher trainings. participants were lecturers in the university, some were univer- The Waldorf approach to education and teacher training is a sity students, some were owners of mainstream schools, and totally new concept for most of the people of Nepal except for some were practicing teachers and parents. The participants a handful of schools like Tashi, Shanti Seva and Balmandir that were very grateful to know more about Waldorf education and, are practicing Waldorf methods for more than a decade now. in the end, they felt four days was not enough. The participants Last December in 2011, I happened to attend a 5 days Waldorf realized that what they had been teaching was not helpful to the kindergarten program in Kathmandu led by Mrs. Sarita Sanghai development of imagination in the children. They all resolved who is originally from Nepal but lives in Hyderabad, India. I to bring elements of Waldorf philosophy and practice into their was greatly inspired by the whole experience and wished to schools, homes, and their communities, at least to some extent. bring this to more people throughout Nepal. So we organized In the end of the training, the founder of the organiza- a four day Waldorf Kindergarten Teacher Training with Sarita tion, Babita Tulachan, distributed certificates of attendance to at the farm in Pokhara, from December 25-29, 2012. all the participants and gave her thanks to all who attended. This was a first Waldorf teacher training in Pokhara. The The training ended with the song: ”Phul ko akhama, phulai main objective of the program was to introduce Waldorf sansara...kaada ko akhama kaadai sansara“ i.e. “in the eye of education in other parts of Nepal. At first, the participants a (phul) flower, flower is the life and in the eye of a (kaada) of the training were not convinced of the Waldorf approach throne, throne is the life.”

There were 32 participants in the training at Pokhara in Nepal. 7 Going Public Money Dreaming: Everyone is a Banker Hiroyuki Kaji, Matsudo-shi, Japan John Stubley, Australia [First published in Anthroposophy Worldwide, 9/12] [First printed in Scope, issue 2, November 2012] In Japan the anthroposophical movement first spread In my country – Noongar Country in Western Australia through Waldorf education then expanded to include other – the Whadjuk word for money is the same as the word for fields of life, in various places. On 19 and 20 May, a number rock: Boya. Only with the arrival of Europeans did the word of anthroposophically oriented groups and businesses came for an externalised monetary system come about (connected together to get to know each other, to connect and to present to rocks that contained gold). themselves in public. In Indigenous Australian culture, people are assigned The venue was part of a former in the particular totems or dreamings – not arbitrarily, but out of centre of Tokyo. The programme was therefore set up to ad- keen spiritual insight and guidance. To have a dreaming is to dress children and parents who were new to anthroposophy. have a responsibility for that dreaming – to care for it. One is It also gave anthroposophically oriented groups and enter- expected to fully know it – to become it. prises the opportunity to present their work in public and sell If one is yongka (kangaroo) dreaming, for example, one handmade products such as cosmetics, vegetables and books. is expected to know completely the characteristics, qualities, A third of the room was separated off with display boards life cycles, movement patterns, feeding and breeding activ- to create space for the various presentations. There was music ity, stories, songs, dances, art and so on of yongka. One is for children and adults with Keiko Sumida; a puppet show yongka dreaming. Usually, one is expected not to kill or gather performed by Nobuko Kitahara; a small concert given by one’s own dreaming for one-self. One lives, in a way, off the eight pupils of the Fujino Steiner School; a conversation with dreamings of others. If, however, other groups are in need five former Steiner pupils from Japan and abroad; a lecture of a yongka for food or ceremony and are unable to find any, on agriculture and spirit by Tsuyoshi Yumikino, a biodynamic then, as a last resort, those of the yongka dreaming may be farmer from Chiba; another lecture on body care (Seitai) and approached to help locate and possibly kill the animal. Such anthroposophy by Ryo Yamagami; a exercise with a deed does not go un-thanked nor un-remembered by other Tasuku Echyu; a work group on “What the individual can do groups. As part of this process, an ‘increase’ ceremony may also in the society” led by Joro Ohmura; and work presentations by be requested – where those of yongka dreaming would hold participants. Special corners had been prepared where children a ceremony at a site sacred to yongka so that more yongkas could paint or be creative with fairy wool. At the information may appear on the land. I have also heard it expressed that an desk there were brochures and flyers of the organizations that individual represents only one part of the physical manifesta- could not be present on this occasion. All in all, 18 groups and tion of their dreaming – yongka tail, for example. Combined enterprises were represented. All course leaders and organizers with all others of that dreaming, however, the whole physical worked free of charge. manifestation of yongka is represented. It should also be pointed out that the Anthroposophical I would now like to put forward the concept of money Society, although not explicitly mentioned, strongly lived at this dreaming. I believe all human beings today are assigned this event, forming the foundation and vessel of each initiative. totem. And I believe they are assigned it at birth, if not earlier, We young people of the preparation group – Jiro Ohmura, though, again, not arbitrarily. Hiroyuki Kaji, Ui Ohta and Sachiko Nishio – are grateful to all No matter what culture we live in on Earth, there now exists who took part, for their interest and contributions; considering some form of money – and therefore some form of money the times we live in we were happy that so many people could dreaming. The question is whether we are awake to it or not. come. It is not clear yet whether we will continue working in Have we observed the qualities and characteristics of money this direction, but I personally find that there is still much to do. so well that we can say we truly know it – that we are able to be responsible for it – to care for it, and for others – to not hoard it for ourselves – to live not off our own dreaming and the fruits thereof, but off the dreaming and work of others, as they live off ours? Do we recognise that every other human being holds another part of the puzzle, without which it would be incomplete? Everyone as money dreaming. In recalling the words of the famous German post-war artist – “Every human being is an artist” – Peter Blom (of ) said at the recent conference, “Ev- ery human being is a banker.” We live in a world that reveals the consequences of human beings putting their faith in the financial wizards of the banking world. But we are also living Mt. Fuji in Japan. 8 in a world where human beings are waking up to their own Dateline New York, NY: Technology in responsibilities when it comes to money. As individuals we have this responsibility; as groups, organisations and institu- Teaching tions we have this responsibility; and because money exists as Lucy Wurtz (center) takes part in New York Times panel part of a global economy (even though it belongs, in essence, not to the economic life but to the life of rights) we also have this responsibility on the global level. It is a global dreaming. Its songlines are everywhere. The degree to which the monetary wizards of Wall Street and elsewhere have so far used their intellects to create financial ‘products’ in order to secure monetary gain for themselves, is the same to which all human beings are now asked to use their imagination and creativity in order to meet the real needs of other human beings, to sing a better country into being, to heal the world; naturally, culturally, politically, economically...

To read the full article, visit www.socialpoetry.net For more from John Stubley, visit www.reperth.org [Amidst the breathless promises of what computers and smart boards bring to the classroom, questions persist about the role of technology in education. Patrice Maynard from AWSNA reports on a recent colloquium on this subject at the headquarters of The New York Times.]

On September 13, 2012, Lucy Wurtz, from the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, was invited to speak at a New York Times-sponsored conference on education. Douglas Gerwin, Director of the Center for Anthroposophy and Co-Director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education, and Patrice Maynard, Leader of Outreach and Development at the As- sociation of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), also attended. The conference, entitled “Schools for Tomorrow,” featured many noteworthy educational leaders and commentators: Linda Darling Hammond of Stanford University, Sharon Rob- inson of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Monty Neill of Fair Test, Herbert Ginsburg of Teachers College, Columbia University, and Dennis Wolcott, Chancellor of New York City’s Department of Education, to name a few. Moderators, all of them journalists from the New York Times, included Gerald Marzorati, David Brooks, Bill Keller, and Nick Kristof, among others. In the midst of a heady mood of technology as a power- ful answer to our educational questions, Lucy Wurtz, in her panel entitled, “Head to Head,” represented the very different approach Waldorf Education offers. She drew applause more than once from the audience of teachers, school principals, educational technology experts, and educational consultants. After the event ended, many approached her to thank her for her courage in taking a stand on behalf of children, bring- ing in the arts and practical skills, and citing statistics about our children’s habits of hours in front of screens. The New York Contemporary Australian Aboriginal painting from Alice Springs in Times is to be commended for its active interest in creating the Northern Territory. such an open forum for educational debate and for the artistic and socially supportive design of the entire day’s event.

9 Education is not a luxury - Access for all A godmother from Finland calls the atten- With the educational sponsorship campaign 2013, the tion to another important Friends of Waldorf Education support Waldorf schools facing point of the sponsorship difficult economic realities. program: “Godparents at Berlin 26.02.2013/KS. With the launch of the campaign the Friends of Waldorf for educational sponsorships, the Friends of Waldorf Educa- Education are not simply tion, an internationally operating association, reinforce public paying the school fees of a single child. The children, who are awareness in 2013. The aim is to point out that foreign Waldorf supported through sponsorships, act as ambassadors for all schools, even though they have to survive without government children who are in need of financial assistance at the specific support, are following the social impulse “Education is not a school. I think this is the right approach, because children should luxury - Access for all”. In recent years the association has not have to compete for the attention of potential sponsors.” emphasized educational sponsorships, as they are often one of Several aspects are important concerning the sponsorship the few long-term support tools that can help privately funded program of the Friends of Waldorf Education that are not Waldorf schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern necessarily common in development cooperation. The program Europe, to continue with the admission of students coming is not only enabling better access to education, or simply calling from difficult economic backgrounds. As a result more children for solidarity between Waldorf students worldwide, nor does it have access to a child-friendly education. only promote the idea that godchild- ren are ambassadors for all The number of Waldorf schools and kindergartens is children in need, but the association also forwards sponsorship continuing to increase on a worldwide scale. Currently there donations at 100% to the foreign schools. Since its foundation are 1,026 Waldorf schools and more than 2,000 kindergartens, in 1976, transparency concerning money matters is of utmost excluding numerous young Waldorf initiatives that are currently importance to the organization. Therefore each sponsor may in their development phase. Around the world, parents are decide for himself how much he or she is willing to donate, looking for alternative educational approaches. The trend is to and if he or she would like to further participate in the 10% move away from achievement pressure, a strict state curriculum campaign by supporting the association’s work, such as the and overcrowded school classes towards an individual learning administ- ration of forwarding donations or public relations, atmosphere and a learning environment that takes into account with a further 10% on top of the amount donated. each student and his or her current development. Through these efforts, the Friends of Waldorf Education In many countries, such as South Africa, Guatemala or have been able to attract godparents in Waldorf schools such as Poland, Waldorf schools receive no government support. They parents or students, as well as entire school classes, who learn have to finance themselves and are thus struggling for survival a lot from the resulting cultural experiences. Accordingly Fabian on a daily basis. Nevertheless, these schools strive to also ac- Michel, coordinator of educational sponsorships, reports that commodate children whose parents cannot pay school fees or recently two classes from have decided to help children may only be able to do so partially. The Friends of Waldorf in South Africa by donating two Euros per month per student. Education support these schools through educational sponsor- Finally one can already imagine the prospects that are open- ships enabling them to accept more stu- dents, especially from ing up for the sponsored children: “I began to understand just low-income families, raised by single mothers or fathers or how important sponsorships are when I started to write to children without parents. Educa- tional sponsorships are not strangers on the “other side” of the world and open up my heart only beneficial to individual children, but also to whole regions to them. They understood me, and I no longer felt alone. The such as in the townships of South Africa, or in post-socialist sponsorship went way beyond mere finan- cial support. Over countries such as Armenia that are severely affected by poverty, time the exchange of letters developed more and more of a violence and unemployment. This is because Waldorf schools therapeutic character, as I encoun- tered understanding and play a key role in integrating rich and poor, as well as various support when I had to go through some really tough times” ethnic traditions. says a former sponsored child from South Africa. In the spring report 2013, Nana Goebel, Chair of the Board Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners e.V. of the Friends of Waldorf Education, talks about a win- win The Friends of Waldorf Education support more than 600 situation for both sides: “Through our sponsorship program Waldorf schools, kindergartens, curative education faci- lities we aim to enable more and more children to at- tend a Waldorf and social projects worldwide in financial and legal matters. school, and hope that many students will feel inspired to help The Friends furthermore organize the WOW-Day campaign children gain access to education in developing countries or in and promote educational sponsorships, emergency education countries with difficult economic conditions. Such sponsorships and community services. can be the beginning of long lasting friendships, which are of Press contact mutual benefit. Maybe a visit to the foreign country follows, Friends of Waldorf Education maybe a language exchange. There are many opportunities for Katharina Stemann | Public Relations cooperation to be discovered.” Ph +49 (0)30 617026 35 | [email protected]

10 Scientific Inquiry practice social interaction and build skills and interests to draw upon in the years to come. Among the Set For Pigface, life at the zoo had recently improved. Previ- Sindya N. Bhanoo ously prone to clawing and biting himself, he had developed [Reprinted from New York Times, October 1, 2012] various tricks with sticks and other items that the zookeepers had given him. One trick was to push a basketball with his When engaged in what looks like child’s play, preschoolers snout and sometimes snap at it. Hoops of hose were favorite are actually behaving like scientists, according to a new report objects, which he would nose and chew and sometimes swim in the journal Science: forming hypotheses, running experiments, through. On days when zookeepers cleaned his tank, he would calculating probabilities and deciphering causal relationships get in front of the stream of incoming water and remain there about the world. unmoving, just feeling the water run over his face. Once the The report’s author, Alison Gopnik, a psychologist at the cleaning was done, he was off again. These activities make University of California, Berkeley, says she based it on more Pigface sound like an otter or a seal. But the behaviors look like than 10 years’ worth of research and studies, including some mammalian play only when played back at three times normal of her own. speed, because Pigface is a turtle (see photos). In one study, for example, an experimenter performed Play is widespread among animals, beyond the familiar cases five different sequences of three actions each, as a 4-year-old of mammals and birds, to vertebrates and even invertebrates. looked on. The sequences would either activate a toy or fail How can we be sure that an animal is playing? Researchers use to activate it. When the children were given the toy, they often three criteria.1 First, play resembles a serious behavior, such performed only the actions required to activate it. They were as hunting or escaping, but is done by a young animal or is able to eliminate the unnecessary actions by observation. exaggerated, awkward, or otherwise altered. Second, play has Other studies have found that when children are simply no immediate survival purpose. It appears to be done for its taught, they don’t explore and test multiple hypotheses, Dr. own sake and is voluntary and pleasurable. Third, play occurs Gopnik said, adding: “There’s a lot of pressure from parents and policy makers to make more and more like schools. This research suggests the opposite.” In another study, an experimenter held a toy that had four tubes. Each tube did something different — for instance, one lit up and one made a squeaking sound. In one case, the experimenter accidentally made the toy squeak by bumping into it and then left the room. The children experimented with the toy and figured out the three other features. But when the experimenter made the toy squeak on purpose and then handed it to a child, he or she simply repeated what the experimenter did and never explored the toy’s other features. “If we want to have great scientists, letting preschoolers explore, play and do pretend play exercises the capacities for doing science,” Dr. Gopnik said. “Not so much the flash cards and the Baby Einstein videos.”

Play, Stress, and the Learning Brain by Sam Wang, Ph.D. and Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D. [First published in The Dana Foundation Newsletter, September 24, 2012] An extraordinary number of species—from squid to lizards to humans—engage in play. But why? In this article, adapted from Dr. Sam Wang and Dr. Sandra Aamodt’s book Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College (Bloomsbury USA, 2011; OneWorld Publications, 2011), the authors explore how play enhances brain develop- ment in children. As Wang and Aamodt describe, play activates the brain’s reward circuitry but not negative stress responses, which can facilitate attention and action. Through play, children Courtesy of Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt. 11 Play takes different forms in different animals, including humans, and its content provides some hint as to what purpose it might serve. Play researchers (there’s a fun-sounding job) rec- ognize three major types of play. Most common is object play; that’s what Pigface does with basketballs and hoops. Object play is typically found in species that hunt, scavenge, or eat a wide variety of foods. About as common is locomotor play, such as leaping about for no apparent reason. (The term locomotor has to do with coordinated movement, such as crawling, walking, or running.) Locomotor play is common among animals that move around a lot—for instance, those that swim, fly, or live in trees—and, notably, often must get away from predators. The third and most sophisticated form of play is social play. Social play can take many forms, including mock fighting, chasing, and wrestling. Pretending is a major component of social play. Social play is especially prominent in animals that show a lot of behavioral flexibility or plasticity. In mammals and birds, this boils down to a simple rule: If your species has a big brain for its body size, you probably engage in social play.3 Among these species, most of the variation in brain size occurs in the forebrain; different mammals or birds of a given body size will have about the same amount of brain stem but very different amounts of neocortex (in mammals) or forebrain (in birds). Animals with more neocortex or forebrain typically live in larger groups and have more complex social relations. Ducks engage in so-called coordinated loafing, which means they basically just hang around together. Great apes and their relatives (such as Courtesy of Gordon Burghardt. humans) form societies in which alliances constantly shift, and in which the young play recognizable games, such as chasing, when an animal is not under stress and does not have something wrestling, and tickling. In playing these games, your child is more pressing to do. indulging her inner ape. These criteria for play are met by leaping needlefish, water- This phenomenon is not limited to vertebrates. Among frolicking alligators, and prankish lizards. At the National Zoo invertebrates, cephalopods, which include squid and octopuses, in Washington, D.C., monitor lizards play games of keep-away. have perhaps the most complex brains. Octopuses use their The largest monitor species, the Komodo “dragon” lizard, water jets to push floating objects like pill bottles back and plays tug-of-war with its keepers over a plastic ring. It can pick forth in a tank or in a circular path.4 Despite this behavioral notebooks and other objects out of a familiar keeper’s pockets complexity, however, octopus brains are still small by vertebrate and then walk around carrying them in its mouth. A movie of standards—half the diameter of a dime, smaller than those of a Komodo dragon playing looks quite a bit like one of a dog, even the smallest mammals. Another invertebrate that appears only slowed down to about half speed. to play is the honeybee, which has one of the largest and most The lizard’s behavior is not just displaced foraging or hunt- complex nervous systems among invertebrates. As a counter- ing. If the plastic ring is coated in tasty linseed oil or animal example, playlike behavior is not reported in houseflies. blood, playfulness vanishes and turns into a pronounced pos- Play: What Is It Good For? sessiveness. YouTube videos of Komodo dragons swallowing Now, maybe play isn’t “for” anything. Perhaps play behavior whole pigs—or even other Komodo dragons—suggest that is simply early maturation—precocious behavior that develops these food-oriented behaviors are not easily confused with play. before it is absolutely required. Another possibility is that play is The fact that play is so widespread suggests that it arose what our brains do when there are no more pressing matters—a long ago in the history of animals.2 It appears in many animals screensaver for the mind, as it were. with far less social complexity than people have. This universal- But one key piece of evidence contradicts these ideas: Play ity suggests that even though play is literally fun and games, it is fun. At first, this may seem like an odd argument. Aren’t fun must serve some vital function. In other words, when your child activities the ones we engage in for their own sakes? Superfi- is playing, he is doing something crucial for his development. cially, yes, but dig a little deeper. The ability to enjoy an activity Furthermore, the features of his play are distinctive not only is a survival trait. We are wired to like activities that help ensure to him but also to humans in general. our survival. For example, we may think we seek sex because Types of Play it’s fun, but in reality, sex is essential. Sex is fun because seek-

12 ing it is adaptive. People who don’t like sex have a harder time finding mates and having kids. In general, enjoying an activity is a hardwired response that causes the brain to seek out that activity. If these essential behaviors weren’t enjoyable, we might forget to do them. On these grounds, it seems that play must have an adaptive purpose, providing some survival advantage. The brain generates chemical signals that encode a key component of fun: reward, the quality that makes us come back for more. Reward is conveyed within the brain by dopamine, a neurotransmitter that has many functions depending on where and when it is secreted. Dopamine is made by cells in the brain’s core, in the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area (see figure). In rats, dopamine and play are linked. Among chemicals that activate receptors for various neurotransmitters, A homemade chemistry apparatus built by Nobel laureate Roger Tsien including drugs that activate dopamine receptors, only a few when he was about 14 years old. He was trying to synthesize aspirin. increase play behavior.5 Courtesy of Le Prix Nobel and Roger Tsien. One way to find out what play is good for is to take it away from animals and see how they fare. The problem is that repairing a wound or fighting an infection. In the case of the this experiment is nearly impossible to do. Animals (including brain,6 enhancing memories of danger and learning about the children) are irrepressible; they play under the most adverse of stressful context at hand are urgent; other brain mechanisms, conditions. The only way to get an animal to stop playing is to such as working memory and recall of social memories and of restrain its mobility. This severe restriction leads to decreases other facts and events, are not urgent. It is safe to say that if in physical activity and increases in stress, as measured by the you find play to be a source of stress, you’re not doing it right. amount of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva. Play, exercise, Even violent video games, which raise physiological arousal as and stress are closely linked. measured by epinephrine-based response, do not increase cor- Though the deprivation experiment is hard to do, that very tisol.7 In some cases, cortisol levels actually decrease—people fact means that seeing an animal play already tells us something work off stress by shooting ’em up. On the whole, play is as- good about its state. In young squirrel monkeys, low levels of sociated with responses that facilitate learning. cortisol are associated with high amounts of play, suggesting Play as Practice either that play reduces stress or, possibly, that unstressed The conditions of play—the generation of signals that monkeys are more likely to play. In bear cubs during their first enhance learning without an accompanying stress response— year of life, survival over the winter is highly correlated to the allow the brain to explore possibilities and to learn from them. amount that cubs played during the preceding summer. Play Thus, a major function of play may well be to provide practice might be an indicator of health or resistance to stress. No for real life. The use of a skill or other mental capacity builds matter how you slice it, seeing your child play is a good sign. up that ability. Evidence from animals suggests that this is the Stress Systems case for play, which usually reflects an animal’s more serious Play activates other brain signaling systems as well, includ- needs. Kittens play at pouncing on objects, a behavior that ing the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (see figure). Its close resembles the hunting they do later. Fawns don’t pounce much, relative epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) is released to the but they do gambol around, a behavior that resembles escape. body as an initial component of stress-related signaling. As the So it’s possible that play is practice that prepares animals main activator of the sympathetic nervous system, epinephrine for the real activity later—when it matters. Researchers of early mobilizes our energies for “fight, flight, fright, or fornication,” childhood development have applied the concept of play skill as the medical-school mnemonic goes. Norepinephrine is also building in Tools of the Mind, a preschool program that uses involved in rousing us to attention and action, but by acting as complex play to get children to make elaborate plans and to a neurotransmitter. Norepinephrine facilitates learning mecha- exercise self-restraint—practice for the prefrontal cortex, which nisms at synapses as well. In some neurons, norepinephrine is involved in self-control. Even before that, the 19th-century improves brain plasticity, such that change becomes possible kindergarten movement, which popularized the concept of when this chemical is present in elevated amounts. The same preschool education, was based on the idea that songs, games, is true for dopamine, which accounts for how reward leads to and other activities are a means for children to gain perceptual, long-term changes to make us want more—neural plasticity cognitive, social, and emotional knowledge that prepares them mechanisms are strongly facilitated when reward occurs. for entering the world. Though real-life stressors trigger the release of both epi- In mammals, play is necessary for forming normal social nephrine and cortisol, play does not increase cortisol. Cortisol connections. Rats and cats raised in social isolation become is a stress hormone that helps us in genuinely dangerous situa- incompetent in dealing with others of their kind and typically tions by redirecting resources to the most urgent needs, such as react with aggression. In our species, abnormal play as chil-

13 dren often presages dysfunction in adults. A notable feature concept of flow, or what athletes call being in the zone. Flow of psychopaths is that their childhoods lacked in play. Serial occurs during active experiences that require concentration but killers are often reported to have had abnormal play habits, are also highly practiced, where the goals and boundaries are keeping to themselves or engaging in particularly cruel forms clear but leave room for creativity. This describes many adult of play. Sometimes such problems are associated with early- hobbies, from skiing to music, as well as careers like surgery life head injury. and computer programming. Such immersion can make solving Play also transmits culture.8 Middle-class mothers in the a great challenge as easy as child’s play. Encouraging your child United States encourage their infants to pay attention to objects to pursue tasks that produce flow is a great way to contribute and are likely to prompt them to play with toys such as blocks. to his lifelong happiness. Japanese mothers encourage their babies to engage in social Think of it this way: Play is the work of children. It is interactions while playing—for example, suggesting that they perhaps the most effective way for them to learn life skills and feed or bow to their dolls. Communities that emphasize the de- to find out what they like. For these reasons, it is important to velopment of independence place more importance on object prevent play from becoming a compulsory, dreary activity, as play, while interdependent communities encourage social play. its enjoyable nature is part of what makes most children grow There are some downsides to play, too. For one thing, like dandelions. So, rather than trying to change your child’s though play by definition occurs in the absence of stressors personality through enforced activities, let her play, and help or external threats, children aren’t always good at detecting her become who she’s going to be. threats, such as the hazards of fast-moving traffic; thus, play can be dangerous. This problem is not unique to people. In a References study of baby seal mortality, 22 of 26 deaths happened when 1. Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The genesis of animal play: the pups played outside the sight or hearing of their parents. Testing the limits. Cambridge: MIT Press. Play can distract people and other animals from recognizing 2. Fagen, R. (1974). Selective and evolutionary aspects of danger. But even here, play may be practice for real life. Risk animal play. American Naturalist, 108(964), 850–858. taking in children’s play may be an important developmental 3. Iwaniuk, A. N., Nelson, J. E., & Pellis, S. M. (2001). Do process. It tests boundaries and establishes what is safe and big-brained animals play more? Comparative analyses of play what is dangerous. In the United States, playground equipment and relative brain size in mammals. Journal of Comparative has been made very safe, leading to the unanticipated problem Psychology, 115(1), 29–41. that children lack experience with such distinctions, which may 4. Mather, J. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1999). Exploration, lead to trouble later in life. play and habituation in octopuses (Octopus dofleini). Journal When Play Becomes Passion of Comparative Psychology, 113(3), 333–338. In addition to providing experience, play also helps children 5. Vanderschuren, L. J., Niesink, R. J., & Van Ree, J. M. learn what they like and don’t like. Nobel chemistry laureate (1997). The neurobiology of social play behavior in rats. Neu- Roger Tsien tells of about chemical reactions before roscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 21(3), 309–326. he was eight years old and then trying out the reactions for 6. Joels, M., Pu, Z., Wiegert, O., Oitzl, M. S., & Krugers, himself. He was able to bring about beautiful color changes in H. J. (2006). Learning under stress: How does it work? Trends his house and backyard. Because he didn’t have enough labora- in Cognitive Sciences, 10(4), 152–158. tory glassware, he had to make equipment from used milk jugs 7. Gentile, D. A., & Stone, W. (2005). Violent video game and empty Hawaiian Punch cans (see photo). Tsien later won effects on children and adolescents. A review of the literature. the Nobel Prize for developing colored dyes and proteins that Minerva Pediatrica, 57(6), 337–358. become brighter or change hue when they encounter chemical 8. Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Bornstein, M. H., Cyphers, L., signals in living cells, including neurons. (This can make certain Toda, S., & Ogino, M. (1992). Language and play at one year: biological processes, such as brain signaling, much easier to see A comparison of toddlers and mothers in the United States and to understand.) Tsien’s great contribution to science—the and Japan. International Journal of Behavioral Development, invention of tools that help us visualize what is happening in 15(1), 19–42. active biological systems—had its roots in his childhood interest in home chemistry experiments. Not all childhood endeavors lead to such heights, of course, but regardless of your children’s eventual interests, discovering them may be one of the most important outcomes of play. For many people, play continues in adulthood and is a major contributor to successful problem solving. Physical scientists often report having built and taken apart machines when they were kids. Conversely, work in adult life is often most effective when it resembles play. Indeed, total immersion in an activity often indicates that the activity is intensely enjoyable; this is the

14 What Can Slow Schools Teach Us? that hold classes outdoors show significant gains in social studies, Elisa J. Sobo, Tony Cirone & Bonnie Holden, San Diego, science, language arts and math achievement. Studies also show increases in self-esteem, problem-solving abilities, cooperative California, USA play, and motivation to learn as well as reductions in attention- [First printed in U-T San Diego “Opinion,” Nov. 25, 2011] deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms when children spend Kindergarten today asks more of our children than it used more time with nature. to, and so California’s Senate Bill 1381 increased the minimum Moreover, fully embodied activities that can be engaged in age for entrance to five years. Four year-olds now will have outside, like running, gardening, catching grasshoppers, or even pre-K training. Hopes are high that these changes will produce rolling sideways down a grassy hill can help children develop bet- a better-educated population. However, early achievement may ter body awareness, stimulate sensory integration, increase manual not in fact ensure later success. dexterity and foster visual capacities that may be hampered by Sebastian Suggate has studied the matter. He found that too much indoor or screen time. In this way, more play can help students from countries where reading is not taught until age six ready the body to hold a pencil productively, form letters and actually do better on standardized reading tests than those from numbers, orient them from right to left and grasp their meaning. countries that begin at five or earlier, as in the USA. Children In many cultures and back in time, children were not seques- who start even later catch up quickly: Suggate collected extensive tered in schoolrooms. They spent their days playing actively and data from about 400 students in – some in public carrying out chores that were essential to household and com- schools and some in private “Waldorf ” schools, where reading munity survival. We should take a cue from the cross-cultural teaching doesn’t even begin until age seven. Difference in read- record, just as we should attend to (and fund more) research ing achievement between the two groups disappeared by age 10. regarding schools that take a slower approach. Research comparing Waldorf school students’ academic skills The effects on school achievement of more playtime and to those of public school students shows even more encouraging less academic work in pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade could results. In a report exploring the value of the Waldorf approach be substantial. Keeping all children home until the age of seven for public school reform, Ida Oberman found that second- is an economic impossibility. But what if, instead, our schools graders from four Waldorf-style schools underperformed in relaxed a bit? comparison to 10 “peer-alike sites.” Yet by eighth grade, these The route to academic success is not early exposure to let- students could match and even outperform comparison sites on ters and numbers. Rather, schools must engage our youngest achievement tests. students in activities that foster brain and body development If nothing is lost from academic achievement when training more generally so that, when the time does come for literacy starts later, and some competencies even may be gained, why then and numeracy, all can succeed. the rush to begin it? Why buy toddler flash-cards, fund pre-K Elisa J. Sobo is a professor of anthropology at San Diego , and start kindergartners on reading and math when State University. Cirone is director of development and a teacher children could be otherwise engaged, developing other kinds of at Waldorf School of San Diego. Holden is a teacher and director skills and dispositions, such as empathy and creativity? of at the Waldorf School. Sir Ken Robinson, who led a British inquiry into how education might better foster innovation, ex- plains that today’s schools are organized according to industrialized manufacturing principles. But humans are not machines. Worse, standardized approaches fitted to an old-fashioned, mechanistic, conformity- demanding view of the world stifle creativity. They punish those interested in questions not on the tests, producing graduates less able to think creatively than they did in preschool. To counter this, Robinson promotes an ecological approach. Ecological thinking means considering us hu- mans as part of a larger system, and as complex sys- tems ourselves. Fostering more active outdoor play among our younger students honors this viewpoint. Time spent outside protects children against what author Richard Louv of San Diego has termed “nature deficit disorder,” in which children less ex- posed to nature grow to fear and disrespect it, and cannot see themselves in connection with the larger world. Louv has reported that students at schools Young children do free painting in a Waldorf kindergarten before learning to read the letters of the alphabet from 'storied pictures.' 15 To the first question: It is tempting to think of the com- puter as a fancy calculator or stern grammarian, and for many people (myself included) this device does indeed serve these functions. But what makes the computer distinctive from other technological devices is its ability to simulate human experience. In fact, as one respondent suggested, we should rename the computer “the simulator” in recognition of the tremendous benefits that the computer has wrought in our culture, espe- cially in the fields of engineering, medicine, and––yes––en- tertainment and even broadcasting. Computer models allow us to test new engines, fly new airplanes, try out new drugs without even creating them in the physical world. Using virtual models, we are able to experi- ment with new designs and simulate their effects. By the same token, every weather map you see on the evening newscast and Douglas Gerwin, PhD, is co-director of the Research Institute for just about every vehicle or building you see get blown up in a Waldorf Education, teaches at the Center for Anthroposophy, and is scene of a so-called “action movie” these days is some kind chair of the Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program in New of computer simulation. If you have remained seated in the Hampshire, USA. cinema long enough for the end of the credits, you will know just how many people work on a film’s computerized “FX”. If E-Go Today, E-Gone Tomorrow So, what’s the problem with that? The problem is the same Douglas Gerwin, New Hampshire, USA as for all examples of technology. It’s great when it supplements a skill you have already developed, and it’s not so great when it [First printed in Center & Periphery, November 2012] supplants it. If you have mastered some drawings of projective Regular readers of Center & Periphery will recall that last geometry, the computer can enhance your understanding and spring I posed two questions about the role of technology appreciation of this mind-bending subject through models in education –– and in society as a whole. The point was not of geometric forms set whirling in simulated motion. But in to beat the drum about the perils of TV or computers or teaching this subject, I would never wish my students to work smart phones but rather to examine them as being tools or with these simulations until they had first achieved a measure “prosthetics” for human skills and capabilities, recognizing of skill in making their own drawings. It’s the difference be- that prosthetics are helpful when they assist a human skill tween listening to a recording of music you don’t know and or capability but harmful when they threaten to take it over. listening to a recording in which a skilled soloist plays precisely In this context, I mentioned that actually the piece you have struggled for months to play for yourself. cautioned against banning tools of technology outright. In The recording is all the more thrilling if it supplements your a lecture given shortly after the outbreak of World War I own experience rather than replacing it. [“Technology and Art”, Dornach, 28 December 1914], he There, then, is the first point: the computer supplies declared: “It would be the worst possible mistake to say that us with a virtual experience that can serve to supplement our we should resist what technology has brought into modern actual, that is to say lived, experience. The mischief––including, life, that we should protect ourselves . . . by cutting ourselves I would suggest, the beginning of addiction––begins when off from modern life. In a certain sense this would be spiritual the computer supplants it. cowardice.” [emphasis added] Virtual experience is of a different order of being than Instead, Steiner went on to say, the more we expose our- lived experience. It is like an advertisement for a loaf of bread: selves to technology (rather than flee from it), the more we the promise––but not the delivery––of nourishment. If any- need to strengthen in ourselves––for instance, through the thing, the image will stir the craving but not, of itself, relieve it. arts––precisely those human capacities that technology mim- To the second question: If we can recognize the specific ics or supplements. genius of the computer as being its ability to simulate human And so the two questions I posed in the spring issue of experience, then (at least in an abstract way) we have already Center & Periphery were these: answered the second question. The child will be ready to Which human skills does the computer mimic or supple- benefit from simulated experience to the degree it has already ment? engaged in its own lived experience. At which age will children have developed these skills suffi- But here’s the rub: who is willing––or even able––to with- ciently so that the computer can assist rather than hijack them? hold the computer from children for that long? As one set of We received some helpful responses to these questions, parents reported in response to our questions, the more they from which the following observations can be distilled: 16 The Jury's In, Screen Time Hurts Little Kids by Julia Steiny [First printed in Education News, Thursday, November 29, 2012] I study kids and families when I’m out in public, and re- cently observed this crazy-making family: Dad pushed a double stroller with a young toddler and a girl who looked too old to be caught dead in a stroller. Not that she was complaining. Mom brought up the rear with another stroller, carrying an obvious middle child. On this lovely fall day in the midst of a lively neighborhood’s commercial street, all three kids were Gone, Elsewhere, deeply The Pew research found that 76 percent of teachers believed students had engrossed in hand-held screens — phones, games, tablets, been conditioned by the Internet to find quick answers. whatever. Forget present-time experience; forget observing the world around them; never mind eye contact, smiles or try to keep the computer from their children, the more they exchanges with other humans. run after it. So we need an alternative approach. My head screamed: You nicely-dressed, probably well- Here’s one. Let’s ask a practical question: what are children meaning parents are wrecking your kids! Do you know what not doing while engaged with the computer that otherwise they the long-term effects of screen time are?! might be doing? Three things come to mind: If the parents had been smacking them around, passersby a. They are not moving might at least have called the cops. Hardly anyone has the nerve b. They are not creating their own mental pictures to intervene in community misbehavior any more, at least not c. They are not engaged in lived experience when kids are involved. And letting children get sucked down Empirically, we know that children need to exercise all the rabbit hole of e-entertainment is parental misbehavior. three of these capabilities if they are to enjoy a healthy physi- Facts are stacking up. cal, emotional, and spiritual life, both in childhood and later This past October, a coalition of some of my favorite early- in adult life. In the context of Waldorf education, we know childhood advocates — the Alliance for Childhood and Susan that all three of these exercises involve the child’s developing Linn, among others — published an analysis of the current sense of self, or “I”. When the child’s “I” is engaged, the research about the effects of electronics on young children. child will develop healthily; when the “I” is not engaged, the Their report, Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young children, child will not mature. technology and early education, is a frank condemnation of Empirical studies show that the “I” is most engaged when the impact of electronics on the mental and physical health the child is stirred to physical movement (especially in the of little kids. Couched in the upbeat tones of early-childhood pre-school years), when it is inspired to create mental pictures educators, the authors conclude, with certainty, that electron- ics of all kinds need to be introduced very carefully, and only (especially during the grade school years), and when it is mo- as kids get older. tivated to embrace self-directed lived experience (especially in They write, “There is no evidence to support the popular high school and in the years that follow). To the degree, then, view — heavily promoted by companies that sell electronic that children spend their time on the computer at the expense media — that children must start early if they are to succeed of exercising these three capacities, to this same degree their in the digital age. …Great innovators in the computer industry caretakers––that is, we as their parents and teachers––need to like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not even experience comput- provide all the more opportunities to develop them. ers until they were about 12. But both had wide experiences A ratio of computer time to movement time; a ratio of with hands-on learning when they were young. Gates was a computer time to mental creativity time; a ratio of virtual Cub Scout, and Jobs spoke of his love for tinkering with the computer experience to lived experience needs to be calculated inner workings of radios and televisions as a boy.” –– perhaps negotiated and modified, as the child gets older. About 12 years old seems right to me. is The key point, though, is that movement, mental creativity, an ideal time to add electronics to the toolkit of learning. For and lived experience are “front loaded”, so to speak. First the younger kids I would make the singular exception for charming, real, then the simulated, or e-real. and only charming, movies. Otherwise, the child will run the risk of growing up with- Consider just this sampler of the report’s facts, which are out the full involvement of its “I” or ego. And when ego is scrupulously footnoted. By all means, examine their sources: treated as e-go, in time it will be e-gone. * Modern science confirms what the early childhood www.centerforanthroposophy.org community has known for years — that infants, toddlers and 17 young children learn through exploring with their whole bodies, including all their senses. And yet: * Twenty-nine percent of babies under 1 year watch TV and videos for an average of 90 minutes. (?!!) Sixty-four percent of children 12 – 24 months watch TV and videos averaging just over 2 hours. * Extensive screen time is linked to a host of problems for children including childhood obesity, sleep disturbance, and learning, attention, and social problems. And time with screens takes away from other activities known to be more beneficial to their growth and development. This applies to children of all ages. * For preschoolers, watching just 20 minutes of a fast-paced cartoon show has been shown to have a negative impact on In 1983 companies were spending $100 million annually targeting executive function skills, including attention, the ability to delay gratification, self-regulation, and problem solving. children. Now they are spending over $17 billion. * Games and digital activities that limit children to a pre- determined set of responses have been shown to diminish Technology Changing creativity. “Diminish creativity?” Aren’t we supposed to be the land of How Students Learn, Teachers Say innovators? We’re actively crippling our own emerging talent. By Matt Richtel * Exposure to media violence is linked to aggression, desen- [Reprinted from the New York Times: Education, November sitization to violence, and lack of empathy for victims. Media 1, 2012] violence is also associated with poor school performance. ‘Nuff said about the mind-numbing, socially-corrosive There is a widespread belief among teachers that students’ effects of screen time like video games. constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention Of course computers are superb tools when used ac- spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, ac- tively, laboriously, to solve problems. Who among us does not cording to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday. regularly put them to work researching all kinds of questions, The researchers note that their findings represent the sub- including how to get from here to there? They’re fabulous. jective views of teachers and should not be seen as definitive But they’re not for young children whose bodies and be- proof that widespread use of computers, phones and video ings are hardwired to upload the realities of their immediate games affects students’ capability to focus. worlds. Let them learn, according to their natures, not ac- Even so, the researchers who performed the studies, as well cording to advertising’s genius at selling stuff. Children need as scholars who study technology’s impact on behavior and trees, friends, bikes, like that. In time, kids will pick up basic the brain, say the studies are significant because of the vantage computer skills with frightening agility, so there’s absolutely points of teachers, who spend hours a day observing students. no need to start early. The timing of the studies, from two well-regarded research The report laments the successful efforts in the 1980s to organizations, appears to be coincidental. ease laws limiting marketing to children. As a result, advertis- One was conducted by the Pew Internet Project, a division ing, movies and TV now shape kids’ desires and imaginations, of the Pew Research Center that focuses on technology-related overwhelmingly. “In 1983 companies were spending $100 research. The other comes from Common Sense Media, a million annually targeting children. Now they are spending nonprofit organization in San Francisco that advises parents over $17 billion.” on media use by children. It was conducted by Vicky Rideout, Yes, electronic distractions free parents to take a stroll — or a researcher who has previously shown that media use among to make dinner or spend time on themselves — without being children and teenagers ages 8 to 18 has grown so fast that they interrupted by a fussing child. on average spend twice as much time with screens each year as But the cost down the road is a tsunami of kids, from all they spend in school. economic brackets, who are fat, passive, irritable, oppositional, Teachers who were not involved in the surveys echoed their disengaged and addictive. findings in interviews, saying they felt they had to work harder As a culture, we have an amazing wealth of ways to wreck to capture and hold students’ attention. kids. For too long, adult interests have trumped kids’. Where “I’m an entertainer. I have to do a song and dance to cap- and how will this stop? ture their attention,” said Hope Molina-Porter, 37, an English teacher at Troy High School in Fullerton, Calif., who has taught Julia Steiny is a freelance columnist who is the founding director of for 14 years. She teaches accelerated students, but has noted a the Youth Restoration Project. See juliasteiny.com marked decline in the depth and analysis of their written work.

18 She said she did not want to shrink from the challenge of the answer,’ ” said Lisa Baldwin, 48, a high school teacher in engaging them, nor did other teachers interviewed, but she Great Barrington, Mass., who said students’ ability to focus and also worried that technology was causing a deeper shift in how fight through academic challenges was suffering an “exponential students learned. She also wondered if teachers were adding to decline.” She said she saw the decline most sharply in students the problem by adjusting their lessons to accommodate shorter whose parents allowed unfettered access to television, phones, attention spans. iPads and video games. “Are we contributing to this?” Ms. Molina-Porter said. For her part, Ms. Baldwin said she refused to lower her “What’s going to happen when they don’t have constant en- expectations or shift her teaching style to be more entertain- tertainment?” ing. But she does spend much more time in individual tutoring Scholars who study the role of media in society say no sessions, she added, coaching students on how to work through long-term studies have been done that adequately show how challenging assignments. and if student attention span has changed because of the use Other teachers said technology was as much a solution of digital technology. But there is mounting indirect evidence as a problem. Dave Mendell, 44, a fourth-grade teacher in that constant use of technology can affect behavior, particularly Wallingford, Pa., said that educational video games and digital in developing brains, because of heavy stimulation and rapid presentations were excellent ways to engage students on their shifts in attention. terms. Teachers also said they were using more dynamic and Kristen Purcell, the associate director for research at Pew, flexible teaching styles. acknowledged that the findings could be viewed from another “I’m tap dancing all over the place,” Mr. Mendell said. “The perspective: that the education system must adjust to better ac- more I stand in front of class, the easier it is to lose them.” commodate the way students learn, a point that some teachers He added that it was tougher to engage students, but that brought up in focus groups themselves. once they were engaged, they were just as able to solve problems “What we’re labeling as ‘distraction,’ some see as a failure of and be creative as they had been in the past. He would prefer, adults to see how these kids process information,” Ms. Purcell he added, for students to use less entertainment media at home, said. “They’re not saying distraction is good but that the label but he did not believe it represented an insurmountable chal- of ‘distraction’ is a judgment of this generation.” lenge for teaching them at school. The surveys also found that many teachers said technology While the Pew research explored how technology has af- could be a useful educational tool. In the Pew survey, which was fected attention span, it also looked at how the Internet has done in conjunction with the College Board and the National changed student research habits. By contrast, the Common Writing Project, roughly 75 percent of 2,462 teachers surveyed Sense survey focused largely on how teachers saw the impact said that the Internet and search engines had a “mostly positive” of entertainment media on a range of classroom skills. impact on student research skills. And they said such tools had The surveys include some findings that appear contradic- made students more self-sufficient researchers. tory. In the Common Sense report, for instance, some teachers But nearly 90 percent said that digital technologies were cre- said that even as they saw attention spans wane, students were ating “an easily distracted generation with short attention spans.” improving in subjects like math, science and reading. Similarly, of the 685 teachers surveyed in the Common Sense But researchers said the conflicting views could be the project, 71 percent said they thought technology was hurting result of subjectivity and bias. For example, teachers may attention span “somewhat” or “a lot.” About 60 percent said perceive themselves facing both a more difficult challenge but it hindered students’ ability to write and communicate face also believe that they are overcoming the challenge through to face, and almost half said it hurt critical thinking and their effective teaching. ability to do homework. Pew said its research gave a “complex and at times contradic- There was little difference in how younger and older teachers tory” picture of teachers’ view of technology’s impact. perceived the impact of technology. Dr. Dimitri Christakis, who studies the impact of technology “Boy, is this a clarion call for a healthy and balanced media on the brain and is the director of the Center for Child Health, diet,” said Jim Steyer, the chief executive of Common Sense Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital, em- Media. He added, “What you have to understand as a parent is phasized that teachers’ views were subjective but nevertheless that what happens in the home with media consumption can could be accurate in sensing dwindling attention spans among affect academic achievement.” students. In interviews, teachers described what might be called a His own research shows what happens to attention and “Wikipedia problem,” in which students have grown so accus- focus in mice when they undergo the equivalent of heavy digital tomed to getting quick answers with a few keystrokes that they stimulation. Students saturated by entertainment media, he said, are more likely to give up when an easy answer eludes them. were experiencing a “supernatural” stimulation that teachers The Pew research found that 76 percent of teachers believed might have to keep up with or simulate. students had been conditioned by the Internet to find quick The heavy technology use, Dr. Christakis said, “makes reality answers. by comparison uninteresting.” “They need skills that are different than ‘Spit, spit, there’s 19 Top 10 skills children learn from the arts will help develop important problem-solving skills necessary Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post for success in any career. 4. Perseverance – When a child picks up a violin for the first time, she/he knows that playing Bach right away is not an option; however, when that child practices, learns the skills and techniques and doesn’t give up, that Bach concerto is that much closer. In an increasingly competitive world, where people are being asked to continually develop new skills, perseverance is essential to achieving success. 5. Focus – The ability to focus is a key skill developed through ensemble work. Keeping a balance between listening and contributing involves a great deal of concentration and focus. It requires each participant to not only think about their role, but how their role contributes to the big picture of what is being created. Recent research has shown that participation in the arts improves children’s abilities to concentrate and focus in other aspects of their lives. 6. Non-Verbal Communication – Through experiences Katherine Frey in theater and dance education, children learn to breakdown You don’t find school reformers talking much about how the mechanics of body language. They experience different we need to train more teachers in the arts, given the current ways of moving and how those movements communicate obsession with science, math, technology and engineering different emotions. They are then coached in performance (STEM), but here’s a list of skills that young people learn skills to ensure they are portraying their character effectively from studying the arts. They serve as a reminder that the arts to the audience. — while important to study for their intrinsic value — also 7. Receiving Constructive Feedback – Receiving con- promote skills seen as important in academic and life success. structive feedback about a performance or visual art piece is a (That’s why some people talk about changing the current regular part of any arts instruction. Children learn that feedback national emphasis on STEM to STEAM.) This was written is part of learning and it is not something to be offended by by Lisa Phillips, an author, blog journalist, arts and leadership or to be taken personally. It is something helpful. The goal educator, speaker and business owner. See Lisa’s book “The is the improvement of skills and evaluation is incorporated Artistic Edge: 7 Skills Children Need to Succeed in an Increas- at every step of the process. Each arts discipline has built in ingly Right Brain World.” This appeared on the ARTSblog, a parameters to ensure that critique is a valuable experience and program of Americans for the Arts. greatly contributes to the success of the final piece. By Lisa Phillips 8. Collaboration – Most arts disciplines are collaborative 1. – Being able to think on your feet, approach Creativity in nature. Through the arts, children practice working together, tasks from different perspectives and think ‘outside of the box’ sharing responsibility, and compromising with others to ac- will distinguish your child from others. In an arts program, your complish a common goal. When a child has a part to play in a child will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, music ensemble, or a theater or dance production, they begin create a painting that represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to enhance a piece of music. If children have practice thinking creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future career. 2. Confidence – The skills developed through theater, not only train you how to convincingly deliver a message, but also build the confidence you need to take command of the stage. Theater training gives children practice stepping out of their comfort zone and allows them to make mistakes and learn from them in rehearsal. This process gives children the confidence to perform in front of large audiences. 3. Problem Solving – Artistic creations are born through the solving of problems. How do I turn this clay into a sculp- ture? How do I portray a particular emotion through dance? How will my character react in this situation? Without even realizing it kids that participate in the arts are consistently being challenged to solve problems. All this practice problem solving Without even realizing it kids that participate in the arts are consistently develops children’s skills in reasoning and understanding. This being challenged to solve problems.

20 to understand that their contribution is necessary for the suc- it makes me cringe to think back on the number of times I’ve cess of the group. Through these experiences children gain used the words “art” and “artist”, unaware of the real meaning confidence and start to learn that their contributions have value and magnitude of those two seemingly little words. even if they don’t have the biggest role. I’ve always loved to draw, paint and create things. Despite 9. Dedication – When kids get to practice following growing up at a time when the arts were gradually eased out through with artistic endeavors that result in a finished prod- of our school curriculum and Waldorf Education was still uct or performance, they learn to associate dedication with a unheard of (I was already too old when the first Steiner feeling of accomplishment. They practice developing healthy school was established in the country), I can say that I’ve had work habits of being on time for rehearsals and performances, a relatively art-filled childhood. I’ll always be thankful to my respecting the contributions of others, and putting effort into parents who never failed to provide me with opportunities to the success of the final piece. In the performing arts, the reward be creative while growing up. for dedication is the warm feeling of an audience’s applause that I was about thirteen or fourteen when I started to take comes rushing over you, making all your efforts worthwhile. art seriously after a trip to Italy where I encountered the 10. Accountability – When children practice creating masterpieces of the Renaissance. I then saw a Hollywood something collaboratively they get used to the idea that their movie (yes, a Hollywood movie---who would have thought?) actions affect other people. They learn that when they are not entitled, “Incognito” where the main character attempted to prepared or on-time, that other people suffer. Through the arts, paint a Rembrandt. While watching I remember thinking to children also learn that it is important to admit that you made myself, I wonder if I can do that---paint or draw from an old master’s a mistake and take responsibility for it. Because mistakes are work? I was surprised when I tried my hand at a Da Vinci a regular part of the process of learning in the arts, children sketch and came up with a close reproduction. Since then (and begin to see that mistakes happen. We acknowledge them, learn all throughout high school and college) I was determined to from them and move on. keep practicing until I was able to copy nearly anything from Michelangelo’s anatomy and drapery studies to still-life’s and landscapes. When it got to the point where I could make photo-realistic reproductions of almost any physical object, on the one hand, I was pleased because I believed I had at- tained the skills and discipline I had aimed for, however on the other hand, I also felt there was something not quite right. Eventually, this dependence on a reference, on a pre-existing image made me feel rigid and paralyzed to the point where I couldn’t paint out of my own creative faculties anymore. In short, I was “enslaved by the model”. It wasn’t the only thing that made me feel imprisoned though. There was also the dog- eats-dog art industry that was gradually closing in around me.

One of Katrina Ann Tan's 2009 oil paintings with recycled wood – at that time she was into anatomy and trompe l’oeil. My Journey through Art...So Far Katrina Ann Tan, Manila, Philippines

I’m Katrina, 27-years old from the Philippines and al- though people know me to be an artist, I personally believe I am still only in the process of becoming one; I’m still just learning to be an artist---in the truest sense of the word. I say this because even though I studied Fine Arts for four years in the university where I majored in Painting, only recently have I began to really learn the truths about art and what it is to be an artist (after encountering what Rudolf Steiner had to say about the arts---thanks to the introductory lectures given by After we had our house renovated, my family ended up with a surplus of Mr. Van James during his workshop series on “The Transforma- odd-shaped wood in the garage. I then began experimenting with different tive Power of Art” held in the province of Pampanga. At times canvas shapes and forms. (Oil on canvas with recycled wood, 2011) 21 the exhibition to be rejuvenating as if “being in church”. One child’s response however was beyond words: he was in the middle of a tantrum but then upon entering the space he stopped, looked around, opened up his arms and began to gently twirl around in a little happy-dance. This was the time I began to grasp the idea that our creations indeed create us-- -that we are in fact responsible for the effects our works have not just on ourselves, but on others, the world and ultimately on our whole evolution.

A painting meant to be placed at a wall-corner. (Oil on canvas with recycled wood, early 2012) "But there must be more to art" I remember after graduation, the goal (as my fellow art students and I were conditioned to believe) was to get signed under a gallery, get a good agent, exhibit, and sell well. I tried to do this and initially, I was thrilled as I immediately got the interest of a few galleries. However as I proceeded, I found that each step I took (and each deal I made with a clever businessman) left a bad taste in my mouth. When asked by one gallery owner to paint according to the current trend in the market (that is, “what sells”), I found myself having nightmares and getting sick in my stomach. Then, I knew I had enough. So I abandoned that path and gathered the courage to set off and work independently. As I walked out A piece I painted just before attending the second workshop. (Oil on the gallery door I remember hearing a statement that went canvas, October 2012) something like, “An artist is not an artist without a show and you will never score a show, an audience, or even a future Emerging from the depths without a gallery.” Deep inside me, I knew that wasn’t true. Have you ever read a book with a storyline that’s so familiar Fast-forward to a few years after that incident--- imagine the it made you ask, “Why do I feel as if I’ve already encountered joy that enveloped me upon hearing lectures on art being this before?” This was how I felt during the first installment so much more than mere commodity, on it being a bridge of “The Transformative Power of Art” workshop series held between the physical and the spiritual---a vehicle through last year which took us on a week-long journey throughout the which the gods can speak to mankind, and on how artists history of art from cave paintings to modern times. For me, and their creations can actually play a vital role in humanity’s the experience was unlike any of my former art history classes evolution and the healing of social life. wherein entire semesters were devoted to memorizing dates My independent creative practice has been an exciting and having dry discussions about various styles and “-isms”. roller-coaster ride. Contrary to what I was told, so far I’ve It was then that I began to think, it’s not really about “style” managed to have three exhibitions of my art and on the most but more about “state of being or consciousness” that makes recent one (which took place after the first“Transformative Power people create the art that they do. As I sat and listened to Van of Art” workshop, right after I started my transition towards James speak about art history essentially being the evolution color) nearly 300 people signed the guestbook. Because it of human consciousness told in pictures, I couldn’t help but was held at a public place, a mall lobby to be exact (yes, in a notice how familiar this story sounded to me. Could it be that mall---the exhibits I’ve done have been in public venues trans- a very similar “history of art” albeit in a microcosmic and formed into spaces for art), the audience was made up not individual scale has been happening in my life all this time and just of the usual swarms of critics and collectors hastily going I just wasn’t aware of it? But of course! And now I feel I’m at about trying to get their hands on a hot new investment, but that stage where I sense the urge to gradually ascend back up of individuals from all walks of life. Even the security guards, after reaching rock bottom---to overcome the material after janitors and other workers, people who don’t usually get to getting to know it and to strive towards its spiritualization. go to galleries or museums had the chance to experience art. In the recently concluded second module of the workshop And the response the exhibit received was most interesting. series which concentrated on Steiner’s aesthetics and the art Many felt the colors had an awakening effect that got rid of of color, the biggest challenge for me was how to create art the “zombie” (which is usually how most people are when wherein I am able to balance being an individual on the one inside a shopping mall) in them. One man told me he found hand, while I sacrifice myself on the other. I had to endure 22 multiple deaths of my old ways in order to make room for the new that was developing within me. For our first exercise, we dealt with yellow alone. Then blue gradually worked its way, and finally, we had to see what role red wanted to play in the picture. I didn’t think serving the colors and allowing the picture to come into being instead of letting one’s own wants and intentions get in the way could be so difficult. Painting what is already visible as I had done before became a piece of cake compared to the challenge of creating art that makes visible. Additionally, I can’t help but notice how these days when I behold a sunrise or a passing cloud, touch a blade of grass or when a flower brushes against my cheek, the experience seems to be richer. It appears as if I’m more awake to the changing colors throughout the day and to the beauty of the world around me. While comparing notes, a friend I met at the workshop who’s a Waldorf teacher shared how she too One of my plates from the “Transformative Power of Art” workshop has observed how art and working with color is helping her painted using watercolor – I found the experience to be very different in becoming a better teacher and individual. from painting with a “heavy” medium such as oil. I struggled a lot When I paint with and out of color, I feel I’m truly creating with this painting. as each artwork is a birthing of something new, something that never was. Previously, I was merely reproducing what already existed but now I’m striving to work beyond “what’s already there” and towards “what more could be”.

A three-piece, back-to-back mobile (oil on canvas with recycled wood, early 2012) What lies ahead? Previously, whenever I attempted to extend my gaze onward, I merely saw what appeared to be a used-up road stretching out very limitedly in front of me. But now, with all these newfound learnings (plus the myriad of things I have yet to learn), I see an ever expanding horizon extending all around me with infinite possibilities and a lot of work to be This is a study for an altar painting for in the done. Though I may only be taking baby-steps at the beginning Philippines. I’m experimenting with priming the canvas with patching of what appears to be a long journey ahead and although I compound and flat latex (as if preparing a surface to be lazured) so that may not know exactly where my destination lies, there’s one I can make use of transparent and fluid colors. thing I’m sure of: I’m on my way. 23 The Transformative Power of Art II Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun. -Pablo Picasso

Once again for the second time we’ve come together, To this enthralling place of rustic beauty and wonder, Where the stillness of creation speaks to our souls, And the soothing sound of nature makes us whole. Creative peoples from all walks of life and cultures, In a journey of color with Van James’ a new adventure, To be a mentor and guide for sixty is a daunting task! But rare is this opportunity, we cannot just pass!

So we begin with the aid of the Spirit of the heavens, To conduct our hands that we may be awakened, To breathe in our souls and spirits its wise heart, That we may renew humanity’s face through art. Illumined by Rudolf Steiner’s ideas on color theory, Where light and darkness interacts with harmony, A challenge to be receptive to its gradual unfolding, Allowing each color to come alive into its being. As we paint broad strokes of luster in our canvass, With the yellow breathing out, the blue as contrast, We see the unveiling of the image color in the green, A quiet metamorphosis with the red yet to be seen.

To determine the too little and the too much’s a virtue, Yet a task we must face to reach a balance and be true; To attune our spiritual senses and inner eyes’ a real test, As we dare to reach the moment of an aesthetic arrest. Our brushes like magic wands we dip in watercolors, Allowing every hue to emerge in its unique splendor, Creating unique archetypal images of nature moods, As the sunrise, sunsets, trees and the shining moon.

24 And thanks to the daily movements of eurythmy, We feel the whole cosmos in perfect synchronicity, Expanding, contracting, sensing and balancing, A coming home to ourselves, our inmost beings. Yes, the artist in each of us awaits to be born anew, to enter into the dome of Rudolf Steiner’s worldview, a larger than life perspective that seizes all our senses, an a-e-o experience that gravitates to the heavens… Above is a colorful spectrum of sketches and paintings, Where humanity’s soul in time and space’s converging, To glimpse life’s mystery unraveled with more clarity, An expansion of our consciousness towards infinity. Slide after slide we listen as we fix our eyes to see, The remarkable story of the man behind anthroposophy, His numerous blackboard drawings are an amazing find, A brilliant contribution in these our postmodern times. As we part ways, we bring with us this virtuous task, Aware that love alone can transform beauty that lasts… Yet, our quest for the arts must go on without faltering, Not for ourselves but for the next generations coming.

Paint for us O Muse! Our heart’s stirring do not refuse, Paint for us O force Divine, And let your radiance in us shine! ***

By: Sr. Marjorie J. Guingona, SAC October 19, 2012, Prado Farms, Pampanga, Philippines

25 and further planning is needed to bring the inspiration to reality. It’s a vision where artists and professionals working in connection to Anthroposophy, and belong to the visual Art Section of the School of Spiritual Science, will be sup- ported in their future works and endeavours. Our Art Initiative representative was part of the planning “think-tank” for the Ascenscion Conference held May 2012 in Dornach and there met with the Art-Section members of the Dornach chapter. Now that you know of our existence, tell us about you. What inspires you? We’d love to know. • Bring us your questions • Tell us how we can support you • Tell us how you might give us support – in spirit or donations • Suggestions and ideas are welcome • Volunteers with hands on help are needed The Art Initiative --Australia If you find resonance with the ideals of the Art Initiative, and would like to know more, please register your interest At the 1907 Munich Congress Rudolf Steiner revealed and we can put you on our mailing list for future events. and made public the hidden forms of the planetary seals. Registration or for more information please contact: These archetypal lines of the planetary seals have been instru- Brigitta Gallaher – [email protected] mental in shaping two consecutive buildings. Following the centenary anniversary of the Munich Congress, Art Initiative Group a renewed interest has emerged. Members: In Sydney, artist group projects have sprung forth and commemorative art festivals in 2007 & 2008 followed by a Hannah Semler painting conference in 2009 have begun to alter the land- Trevor Lee scape. It is as if an all-encompassing art stream – active since Brigitta Gallaher 1907 – has become the vehicle to make Anthroposophy vis- Francis Mougel ible to the outside world. This renewed vigour has brought David Jacobson to the surface the idea of an Art Section in Australia. Diane Watkin Over the last three years, a group of nine people have Karl Kaltenbach started to look into many aspects of the visual arts in con- Adriana von Runic nection to Anthroposophy. Named the Art-Initiative, this David Wansbrough movement is attempting to arrive at an understanding of how to bridge the vast legacy of Rudolf Steiner’s artistic works in connection to Anthroposophy and how this historical aspect of Anthroposophy can be placed into context with contemporary art of mainstream culture. Since start up, the Art-Initiative group has held confer- ences and workshops. The first conference in 2010 looked at historical aspects in connection to the Art Section and examined the indications Rudolf Steiner delivered in 1924/25 that explored the aspects of three major disciplines: Archi- tecture, Sculpture, and painting. A workshop for School of Spiritual Science, with the theme of the Threshold was held in 2011. And in February 2012, a participatory workshop open to the public was held in Canberra at the National Gallery and was centered on the installation artwork of James Turrell and explored the theme – Inspiration. Blackboard drawing, "Science--Art," and red carved glass window by The Art-Initiative group has begun to gain momentum Rudolf Steiner.

26 Architecture: The Mother of All Arts She said that because of this ever-alternating expansion and by Van James, Honolulu, Hawai'i" contraction in the styles of architecture (Egyptian to Greek, Architecture is what we create between the given forms Romanesque to Gothic, Renaissance to Baroque, Neo-classic of nature and the structure of our own physical body. We put to Neo-gothic, International Style to Organic) it was like the ourselves “into” our buildings and they affect our environment “heartbeat of civilization.” She could sense something “alive” as they work back upon us. As Winston Churchill said during within the outer form of architecture. This student went on the rebuilding of London after the bombings of WWII, “We to study medicine. shape our buildings and our buildings shape us.” Understanding the history of architecture can have far- The first main lesson block for Honolulu Waldorf School reaching effects on the young person as they design their twelfth graders is the History of Architecture, a subject that identity and build their future. explores the connections in the humanities (history, anthropol- The main lesson book drawings were created by Yves ogy, archaeology, mythology and literature), mathematics, and Kline and Aloe Corry (class of 2012) at the Honolulu Wal- the science of engineering, not to mention art and aesthetics. dorf School. In this way it provides a solid foundation for starting this last year of high school, as it supports young adults in their own search for balancing inside and outside– inner life and outer reality, and provides a perfect keystone for centering many fields of study. By way of drawing, writ- ing, hands-on projects, oral presentations, and discussion, students begin to see the built environment around them in an en- tirely new way. Field trips aid and deepen this process, for buildings are not just theoretical, they need to be experienced in three dimensions. The Waldorf schools in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Sydney, London, and Berlin, have the unique opportunity for seeing great architecture in their cities. The Honolulu Waldorf School students do as well! On a recent field trip to downtown Honolulu, the twelfth graders saw buildings of many different styles, utilizing various construction techniques and a wide range of building materials, and made sketches of Neo-Classic, Renaissance Revival, and Modern Symbolist architecture (see photos). The fact that Honolulu has the only royal palace in the United States (which had electric lights before the White House, in-door flush toilets, and inter-room phones well in advance of other cities) is worth noting, and that is what the seniors have done by creating their own History of Architec- ture notebooks during this course (see photos). Rudolf Steiner, Ph. D., the founder of Waldorf education, was not trained as an architect, yet he designed and had built some twenty-four buildings during his lifetime, including the internationally acclaimed first and second Goetheanum build- ings in Switzerland. His architecture has inspired the building of hundreds of Waldorf schools. He said that in the future buildings would have the power to “speak” to us. That they would influence us in such a way that they could even pre- vent crime and wrongdoing simply by way of their dynamic, expressive forms. During an architecture block several years ago one student commented on the rhythmic changes in styles from constricted, History of Architecture Main Lesson book work by Aloe Corry geometric structures to flamboyantly fluctuating buildings. (Class of 2013). 27 Groundbreaking for Kona Pacific's Conferences / Seminars / Workshops Permanent Home! 2013 [First printed August 26, 2012] April 2nd -12th Art as a Basis for Education (classes 1-8), with Van James (combined with Diploma course) Taruna College, Havelock North, NZ Contact: [email protected] April 28th -May 4th Asian Waldorf Teacher Conference “Developing Social Healing Out of Anthroposophy” with Christof Wiechert Seoul, Korea Contact: [email protected] or [email protected] USDA’s $3 million direct loan has allowed Kona Pacific’s supporting nonprofit to purchase a 38-acre parcel containing May 19th - 25th (beginners) and May 26th - June 1st elementary school campus, a biodynamic farm (fallow), four (advanced) residences, and eight acres of the ancient Kona Field System Waldorf Education Seminar of agriculture. The loan also funds a million dollar construc- DC School, Khandala, Maharashtra, India tion project comprising two buildings totaling 6,000 square Contact: abanbana123@rediffmail feet (tripling classroom space), additional restrooms, parking, D. C. School, Khandala, Maharastra, India, May-June 2013 and a ball field. The seminar will be conducted in two one - week sessions: The school opened in August 2007, with kindergarten The first week, from 5 pm on Sunday, May 19, until 1 through fourth grade and has added a grade each year since. pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013, will be for beginners and This year, Kona Pacific is adding a second kindergarten class those who are new to Waldorf (Rudolf Steiner) Education. and an eighth grade, bringing enrollment capacity to 235 The second week, from 5 pm on Sunday, May 26, until students, from junior kindergarten through eighth grade. 1 pm on Saturday, June 1, 2013, will be open to all those Enrollment of 99% demonstrates the high level of need and who are acquainted with Waldorf Education (the advanced strong community support. group), as well as to participants who have attended the first week. Appropriate groups will then be formed. One new building will contain two kindergarten classrooms The venue of the Waldorf seminar will be Bai Dhunmai with shared kitchen, where snacks and food from the school’s Cawasji Public School (commonly known as D.C. School) garden will be prepared. The other building will have four in Khandala, pin 401 310, which is a hill station in classrooms for middle school students, allowing these older Maharashtra. Khandala can be reached by car, bus or train students to have a space of their own. Beyond the expanded from Mumbai (CST or Dadar Railway Station), or from campus, opportunities are plentiful on the Pune to Khandala or Lonavla railway station. The telephone 38 acres, reinforcing the school’s agricultural heritage. number of D.C. School is: 02114 - 269153. Restoration of the Kona Field System and cultivation The faculty members at the Khandala Seminar are of traditional Hawaiian crops using traditional methods will Waldorf teachers from India and abroad, having many years weave core academics within a framework of Hawaiian cultural of teaching experience in established Waldorf schools and knowledge and hands-on agricultural instruction, promoting Waldorf education training institutions. stewardship of the land and healthy eating habits. In addition, For more information, contact: www.anthroposophyindia. the biodynamic farm will supply the school nutrition service, org , [email protected] be used for educational programs, and serve as a site for Com- munity Supported Agriculture. July 7th- 12th Additional information about rural programs is available Early Childhood Australia, Vital Years Conference Venue: at a Local USDA Rural Development Office, or on USDA’s Rhythm and the Young Child Web site at: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov with Collaroy Centre, NSW, Australia Contact: http://vitalyears2013.blogspot.com.au/

July 12-15 Class 6-12: Middle School/High School Conference Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, Hastings, New Zealand Contact: [email protected]

28 September 27th – October 2nd Rudolf Steiner’s Nine Lectures on Bees given at Dornach Australian National Teachers Conference. in 1923, Goethe’s objective approach to nature and the work "Inner Life of the Teacher and the of anthroposophical artist, Joseph Beuys were the stimuli for of the Child." Kornberger to explore in this book the truth behind the cur- Little Yarra Steiner School, Victoria , Australia rent bee crisis, overcoming the feeling of powerlessness with Contact: [email protected] the decreasing number of bees and suggesting a new way of thinking about it. September 29th -- October 3rd Kornberger is a Western Australian-based interdisciplinary Biennial NZ Rudolf Steiner Early Childhood Conference. artist and researcher in the realm of creativity and imagination "Mauri Ora - Essential Well Being: from Normal to Healthy" and his relationship with bees began through artistic engage- with Dr Renate Long-Briepohl and Mary Willow. ment when he directed the play The Bee Master. He is not a St Peter’s College, Cambridge, New Zealand. professional bee-keeper and perhaps this was an asset to his Contact: Kathy MacFarlane [email protected] research as he had no preconceived views; or as Kornberger, October 3-6 himself, puts it, “This was a book that needed to be written and Annual Conference of the Anthroposophical Society because no author took it up, it chose me. I’m not an expert in New Zealand. on bees and yet have written on their collapse. Perhaps it was "Being in Reality" (see details below) this lack of expertise that allowed me to see the obvious in Michael Park School, Auckland, New Zealand Contact: the maze of facts.” [email protected] In this book he takes the reader through a modern history of bees and the effects of the industrial revolution’s thinking October 4-7 Australian Anthroposophical Society National Conference. when the aim for greater and greater profit was born and this "Spiritual Ideals for Culture and Democracy" thinking was transferred to the beehive. No longer were the (see details below) pottery hives and straw baskets the home of the queen bee Canberra, ACT, Australia and her entourage, now the development of the analytical Contact: [email protected] mind brought us wooden hives with ever-new frames designed for maximum efficiency of honey production. All these were October 7-11 created to further expand the continuously harvested yields Visual and Movement Arts in the Waldorf Schools of honey, and later this thinking developed the artificial fer- with Van James and Jan Baker-Finch tilisation of queens. After all, our thinking tells us we know Prerana School, Hyderabad, India. better than nature. Man’s knowledge was, indeed, growing - he Contact: [email protected] dissected the bee under the microscope, and controlled the hive by domesticating the bee like other animals – but the bee is not and individual like the cat or dog; a bee is part of a whole; a bee cannot live without the hive and the hive cannot exist without the queen. This is a sort of ‘bee bond’ which if broken, as Rudolf Steiner already indicated in the 1923 lectures, will result in world collapse. Kornberger, citing Goethe whom Steiner describes as “the Kepler and Copernicus of the organic world”, says that his approach opens up the possibility of a new science, a new way of thinking and feeling of empathy, where all is related. It is what the author calls ‘compassionate ecology’ that the bee crisis demands. Kornberger defines compassion as the power of clarified, transformed feelings; not as it appears in ordinary life but systematically developed as a cognitive force by dint of Global Hive: Bee Crisis and Compassionate Ecology will. He urges the reader not to remain abstract and detached By Horst Kornberger, Published by Integral Arts Press in his thinking as with the materialistic scientific view that has brought us to the bee crisis and other ecological catastrophes and global environmental crises of the 21st century, but to Reviewed by Vee Noble develop our feelings of relatedness. Then goes on to share Horst Kornberger writes, “Today we know more about that Rudolf Steiner’s teachings on esoteric research, although bees than any generation before us. And yet we understand demanding, offer an objective to look at how we think. less about them than ever.” A fact completely backed up by Continual consumption is described as ‘ignorant egoism’ the world-wide collapse of bee colonies and the global threat in the book – what could, perhaps, be described is the biggest of the Varroa mite.

29 malaise of our time - and he explains that the industrial evolu- tion of bees demonstrates that economy and ecology are two sides of the same coin. Man interfered with the natural mating Just released: habits of the bee purely for profit. Now colony collapse calls for new way of understanding wholeness. Kornberger likens the beehive to our social life – “as it is SERGEI O. with bees, so it is with humans”, he explains. This is another message in the picture of the bee crisis. The reader is encour- PROKOFIEFF aged to think anew, or re-think, the paradigms and mindsets of the past to arrive at an objective picture of the whole. The current economic crisis shows clearly society’s shortcomings, The First Class of just as the global ecological crises indicate our inability to relate to nature. Bees have a successful society naturally, where each the Michael School plays his part in the whole, until man in his drive for greater production and profit interferes. Man, on the other hand, sits and its largely in a drive for profits and almost complete unawareness of the effect on the whole and a mindset that leads to destruc- Christological tion; he could learn much from a closer look at the healthy social life of the natural beehive. Foundations This is a book for our times written in clear, every day prose that immediately questions the readers’ ‘programmed’ thinking of the past. There is no anthroposophical ‘jargon’ 620 pages, linen, evident in these pages or clichés that can only be understood with coloured pictures by those ‘in the know’ but it is, nevertheless filled with invita- tions to try exercises, create new objective pictures of moral imagination, as well as references to meditative practice and This book is only designed countless indications of the threefold social order. It is a book written for those with no knowledge of anthroposophy but for members of the an openness and awareness that something needs to change School of Spiritual Science as well as the anthroposophist who will find confirmation on and unavailable every page of the spiritual scientific view of the world. I would through bookstores. highly recommend this book as an invaluable tool in the way forward to addressing the problems of today in an objective It can only be ordered: way for the benefit of the whole cosmos. postal: Goetheanum Sekretariat S. Prokofieff, Postfach, CH-4143 Dornach, Switzerland by fax: 0041-61-706-4371 SERGEI O. PROKOFIEFF by e-mail: THE FIRST CLASS [email protected] OF THE MICHAEL SCHOOL AND ITS It costs Euro 48,– (plus shipping costs), CHRISTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS it is possible to pay with Visa or Mastercard. Please mail your creditcard data with your order (number of credit card, expiry date and security number).

30 31 We are in the process of creating an abridged English Version of the website http://www.lebensnetz-geomantie.de/ . If you have any news or events you wish us to include, please let us know. International contacts are listed at: http://www.lebensnetz-geomantie.de/gruppen.html . Contact: Claudia Herrmann, [email protected] , Sabine Engelhardt, [email protected]

Journal for Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner Education

Orders- please email Neil Carter: [email protected] to receive back copies or to become a subscriber. Cost: NZ$10.00 each plus postage and packing. Discounts for bulk orders. Invoice sent with the delivery.

32 Art as a Basis for Education with Van James

This is the twelfth year that Van James, Hawaii-based international arts educator, brings his Art as a Basis for Education workshop to Taruna College. Author of Spirt and Art, The Secret Language of Form and Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart, Van James will lead two weeks of exploring and experiencing painting and drawing as it can be taught in Rudolf Steiner Schools and other settings. This course is for those at any skill level. No prior skills are required. As a teacher or parent you will be provided with the opportunity to discover the artist within; to develop new skills, confidence and consciousness in a supported and sensitively guided environment.

2013 Dates and Fees Lower Primary Upper Primary 2-5 April 2013 8-12th April 2013 Fee: $450.00* Fee: $550.00* *$950 for full 2 weeks.

Fees include classroom materials and morning and afternoon tea

For further information or to enrol, please contact Taruna, phone: 06 8777 174, email: [email protected] or check out our website: www.taruna.ac.nz

33 Being in Reality Annual Conference of October 3-6, 2013 The Anthroposophical Society in Michael Park Rudolf Steiner School, Ellerslie, Auckland Australia The Society’s conference will have a social theme that is October 4-7, 2013, Canberra, Australia something current and real. Today many organizations, schools, curative homes and businesses are facing real social issues. The Spiritual ideals for culture and democracy Contribution to the centenary celebration of the capital city first Waldorf School was a social initiative, the Ita Wegmann Canberra Clinic grew out of a social impulse, as did the special needs homes. What we want is to explore real issues making the We warmly invite you to join in our conference exploring conference more relevant to anyone interested. this theme and celebrating the centenary of Canberra, an Integral to the conference theme are the following words example of a city with a vibrant spirit and thriving diverse from Rudolf Steiner given at the Christmas Conference in culture. The current generation of forward looking individuals 1923/24: worldwide embrace and celebrate the rich diversity of changing … we must reach the point that we can feel in all our deeds and transforming cultures by making contributions to shape that we are connected with the spiritual world. This is the very and redefine who we are in our daily and professional lives. aspect which must be different in the Anthroposophical Society If we take a fleeting glimpse at the varied, yet universally from any other possible association at the present time. The acclaimed and significant forces contributing to culture and difference must be that out of the strength of Anthroposophy democracy in Canberra, we envisage some of the highlights: itself it is possible to combine the greatest conceivable open- Parliament House and high flag pole located on Capital Hill, ness with the most genuine and inward esotericism. And in Mount Ainslie, the sacred place venerated by the first Austra- future this esotericism must not be lacking even in the most lians, the Aborigines, the War Memorial, honouring those who external of our deeds. (26 Dec 1923) sacrificed their lives, the High Courts of law enshrining morals Our three speakers are all based in Australasia though none and ethics, the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the latter of them are New Zealand born. honouring those who have made significant contributions, The Two years ago Lisa Devine was a keynote speaker at the National Library (for research), and Questacon -The National conference In this time of Chaos. Lisa Devine originally Science and Technology Centre. Across the lake are three trained as a youth worker and worked with homeless young Universities for study and learning. The newly opened 250 people. She has always loved to dance and after exploring hectare National Arboretum, emerging from the ashes of the some alternative life paths she became a Eurythmist. For the 2003 bushfires is planted with forests of 100 different species last ten years she has worked as a priest in the Christian Com- of trees from around the world, cultivated for conservation, munity, a movement for religious renewal ordaining women study, display and preservation. since 1922. Currently she is a chaplain in two Rudolf Steiner As an introduction, this conference will begin with hon- schools, thus continuing her work with youth. She is inspired ouring the and enduring legacy of the ancient by working with biographies and relationship journeys. Her people who have inhabited this land for thousands of years, current passion is restorative circles. the Aborigines. Dr Lakshmi, Indian born and living in Australia is often We will then briefly acknowledge the vision and legacy of on the road giving talks and workshops out of her life experi- those modern pioneers who had the ideas, at the turn of the ence as a pediatrician, her work in schools and curative homes. 20th Century, to establish a secular democracy, a democracy im- Santiago de Marco, Argentina born, came to New Zealand bued with the spirit of human ideals endeavouring to provide from where he worked in the Monte Azul favela with the important cultural protection and realisation of human Uta Cramer. He has since worked at Hohepa Hawkes Bay while rights. This spirit lived also in the social idealism of politicians instigating and coordinating the development of Aramitan on who established the Federation of States and Territories, giving the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Australia more to have a Constitutional space within the Commonwealth of Australia and Nations worldwide. For these ideals the founding fathers planned the capital city. Those social pioneers of the Federation chose the inno- vative architects, artists, landscape designers and town plan- ners and Marion Mahony Griffin, who drew their inspiration from diverse cultural ideas, democratic architecture and creative thinking ahead of their time. They embraced the universal ideals of the pure form and cosmic geometry and applied this in their plans for placement of civic, administrative and cultural spaces. This has been described as

34 the ‘geomantic expression of the microcosm in the macro- cosm,’ (see reference). From the early days when the capital city was established, new residents were invited to create their homes. The Griffin’s plans were imbued with a great appreciation for the spirit in nature, as we see reflected in the landscape and surrounding suburbs which are enlivened with nature parks, trees and gardens, wide avenues and boulevards and flowing water features. These are only a few introductory thoughts towards the planned conference and it is hoped that they will spark contri- butions from others who feel this theme is important. Co-ordinators: Marilyn Lewis: [email protected] Karl Kaltenbach: [email protected] LOCATION: Based at Orana School for Rudolf Steiner Education, centred on the new Orana Performing Arts Centre (OPAC) The Wingèd Word Speech Training is set to commence Tuesday April 23rd at The Michael Centre, Warranwood Vic. The course brochure is available by email. This 4 year ‘Diploma Course’ will run Tuesday and Thursday evenings : and Fridays: 10:00am till 6:00pm. Cost per week is $150 and can be paid in advance per term/year or weekly by arrangement. (note that terms are of varying lengths with dates corresponding to the Rudolf Steiner Seminar Year) The cost covers all tuition and most materials/equipment. * Soft slip-on shoes will be needed for eurythmy and improvisation classes. Special eurythmy slippers are available to order for a small extra charge. Timetables are available at the interview. Interviews are being held during March. Please contact Riana now by email (and leave your phone number) to arrange a time. I look forward to meeting you. [email protected]

Indian form drawing, or rangoli, is practiced throughout the country, particularly at festival times.

35 Asia-Pacific Contacts

Asia Korea Viêt-Nam Hans van Florenstein Mulder Eunhwa Lee Thanh Cherry [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Australia Nepal Friends of Rudolf Steiner Education Peter Glasby Rachel Amtzis Nana Goebel [email protected] [email protected] www.freunde-waldorf.de Jan Baker-Finch [email protected] New Zealand www.anthroposophy.org.au Sue Simpson [email protected] Pacifica Journal China www.anthroposophy.org.nz is published as a biannual e-newsletter Harry Wong by the Anthroposophical Society in [email protected] Philippines Hawai‘i. Anthroposophic Group in the Philippines Hawai‘i Van James Reimon Gutierrez Please send subscriptions, donations, inquiries, [email protected] [email protected] announcements and submissions to: www.anthroposophyhawaii.org http://isipphilippines.multiply.com/ Pacifica Journal India Taiwan Anthroposophical Society in Hawai‘i Aban Bana Ya-Chih Chan 2514 Alaula Way [email protected] [email protected] Honolulu, HI 96822 USA www.anthroposophyindia.org [email protected] Thailand Japan Dr. Porn Panosot Editor...... Van James Yuji Agematsu [email protected] Assistant Editor...... Bonnie Ozaki­ James [email protected] www.anthroposophy-thailand.com Production...... Julian Sydow

36 Pacifica Journal Number 43, 2013-1 Asian Waldorf Teachers Conference 2013...... 1 Waldorf High School in China...... 2 Kindergarten Training in the lap of Himalayas...... 7 Going Public...... 8 Money Dreaming: Everyone is a Banker ...... 8 Dateline New York, NY: Technology in Teaching...... 9 Scientific Inquiry Among the Preschool Set...... 10 Play, Stress, and the Learning Brain...... 10 What Can Slow Schools Teach Us?...... 14 If E-Go Today, E-Gone Tomorrow...... 15 The Jury's In, Screen Time Hurts Little Kids...... 16 Technology Changing ...... 17 How Students Learn, Teachers Say...... 17 Top 10 skills children learn from the arts...... 19 Reclining Buddha statue at local Korean temple near Cheonggye Free My Journey through Art...So Far...... 20 Waldorf School. Korea will host the Asia Waldorf Teacher's Conference The Transformative Power of Art II...... 23 this year in Seoul. Architecture: The Mother of All Arts...... 26 www.anthroposophyhawaii.org Groundbreaking for Kona Pacific's Permanent Home!.27 Conferences / Seminars / Workshops 2013 ...... 27 Being in Reality...... 32 Annual Conference of The Anthro. Society in Aust...... 32 Asia-Pacific Contacts...... 34 Pacifica Journal Annual Subscription Please submit in US currency Name______2 years (four) e-issues $15 Address (e-issues only, no hardcopies) ______Make check payable to: ______

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Email ______Date______2514 Alaula Way Honolulu, HI 96822

"In the Head the power of Faith, In the Heart the might of Love, In the full human being all-sustaining Hope." --RUDOLF STEINER 37